Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 March 2014
73. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the additional resources he intends to commit to schools, both primary and secondary, over the decade of centenaries 1913-23, to allow schools to increase the awareness of the events of 100 years ago and the commemorative events which will, and are, being held in their localities and nationally. [12542/14]
View answer74. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the publicity to promote the decade of centenaries all-island history competition for primary and post-primary schools; if it is his intention to run this competition each year for the next two years; if he intends to increase the publicity around it, to increase the number of prizes, the prize fund and also to not just have an essay competition but art, poetry, short story and video competitions; if any thought has been given to having a commercial sponsor on board to defray the costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12543/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 74 together.
The all-island schools' history competition is one of the measures adopted by my Department to mark the contribution of the education sector to the 'decade of centenaries' which covers the period 2012-2022. This competition has been organised in conjunction with the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. The closing date for submissions is 4 April 2014 and prizes will be awarded in May. The competition was launched at the History Teachers Association annual conference in October 2013. Details were circulated to all schools on the island of Ireland, included on the website of my Department, the Department of Education in Northern Ireland, and on other relevant websites, and advertised in 'History Ireland'. Commercial sponsorship had been put in place for the competition but the sponsor had to withdraw prior to the launch due to economic circumstances. The issue of whether the competition, or a variant of it, will be repeated in the future is under consideration. My Department is also working with the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) to develop history lesson plans for post primary schools. These plans focus on items that have been selected from the 'A history of Ireland in 100 objects' series for their relevance to the 'decade of centenaries' period. The lesson plans are currently being developed by the RIA and will be launched in 2014. The Education Centre Network has also been asked to include courses relating to the decade of centenaries in their annual summer course programme for primary and post primary teachers. Within the higher education sector, my Department has identified a number of potential 'flagship' projects relevant to the period 1912-1922 that it is seeking to progress. The details of these proposals are currently being finalised and will be announced in due course. These flagship projects will complement the activities that the higher education institutions will organise from within their own resources. My Department will seek to develop other initiatives over the remainder of the decade of centenaries.
